LA Cruise, Flying to San Diego Questions

[LasseKjus]

We have a cruise booked for April 2010 and I checked on flights today to get an idea of how much flights were going to cost, since the booking window is open. Flight to San Diego is almost half the cost of a flight to LA, with the SD flight coming in at $155 RT and the LAX flight at $287.

 

With 7 of us traveling that really changes the impact of the savings of the flight.

 

My questions are:

1) Does this make sense? Should I book now considering the near $1,000 savings or are the costs of getting to LA just going to be too much?

 

2) How to get from SD to LA? Rent a car? Mini van is $200 for the trip (2 adults, 2 teens, 3 little kids), dropping at LAX. Are there better options for transportation or car rental return? Would have to make that rental both ways.

 

3) What is the earliest to book out of San Diego on the return. The Saturday flight is at 2:45 p.m. Could we make that? I'd be fine with staying the extra day if I couldn't make that 2:45 flight.

[jasmith52]

That is one beautiful drive along the coast.

 

My map site lists it (SD airport to Port of Los Angeles) at 118 miles and 1.8 hours driving time. On a weekday at rush hour add a couple hours to your commute for traffic. The rental van would be a great idea. You could drop it either at the Long Beach airport and take a cab (after dropping off most of the crew and luggage). Or depending on whom you rent from there are hotels in downtown Long beach that do car rentals. That option would be better than the airport as the hotels are closer. Upon return, Just do the reverse.

 

I personally wouldn't book a flight out of SD earlier than 2:00 or so. That should give you enough time if you get the early start (ie carry off) off the ship. I don't see a problem making your flight.

 

Another option to check out are the LA area airports. Check out flying into Ontario, Orange County, Long Beach, and Burbank. Also go look at the websites for Southwest airlines and Jetblue to see if you can get a cheaper flight. They don't come up on websites like Orbitz and Expedia.

[Curt Jerome Wild]

We have a cruise booked for April 2010 and I checked on flights today to get an idea of how much flights were going to cost, since the booking window is open. Flight to San Diego is almost half the cost of a flight to LA, with the SD flight coming in at $155 RT and the LAX flight at $287.

 

With 7 of us traveling that really changes the impact of the savings of the flight.

 

My questions are:

1) Does this make sense? Should I book now considering the near $1,000 savings or are the costs of getting to LA just going to be too much?

 

2) How to get from SD to LA? Rent a car? Mini van is $200 for the trip (2 adults, 2 teens, 3 little kids), dropping at LAX. Are there better options for transportation or car rental return? Would have to make that rental both ways.

 

3) What is the earliest to book out of San Diego on the return. The Saturday flight is at 2:45 p.m. Could we make that? I'd be fine with staying the extra day if I couldn't make that 2:45 flight.

If you are going to fly in and out of San Diego, then you really need to be sure to fly in the day before at least.

Then, personally I'd fly out the day after...

 

That drive between San Diego and Long Beach can be only 2 hours or so - if everything is perfect, and there is not one single problem at all.

What do you do, and what is your contingency plan if that's not the case?

 

Especially on a Saturday or Sunday - if it's on a Spring Break weekend, there have been at least two times where it's taken me almost 5 hours of crawling traffic.

 

So, just to give you all the possibilities...

What if there is a bad accident on the freeway?

What if there is coastal fog, or some other weather that delays your ability to arrive into Long Beach port, and you can't dock until 11 AM?

What if there is a problem with some foreigner immigration, that forces everyone on the ship to wait until they can find those people? (happened to me three times)

What if it's that once in a while time (several times a year), where they have to put the entire crew through immigration before and during the passengers?

 

Or it could all go perfectly smooth...

I just want you to be aware of all of the options and possibilities good and bad, so you can take it all into consideration.

[jasmith52]

LasseKjus:

 

Curt Jerome Wild has a point. By flying into San Diego you increase your risk by a small amount.

 

Regarding his 4 points

1) What if there is a bad accident on the freeway?

2) What if there is coastal fog, or some other weather that delays your ability to arrive into Long Beach port, and you can't dock until 11 AM?

3) What if there is a problem with some foreigner immigration, that forces everyone on the ship to wait until they can find those people? (happened to me three times)

4) What if it's that once in a while time (several times a year), where they have to put the entire crew through immigration before and during the passengers?

If the last three items happen then many many people on board will have flight issues - not just you. So, although they could possibly happen it wouldn't change the game much compared to flying out of LA. Note that getting to the LA airport also takes some time and can have some of the worst traffic and accidents in all of the LA basin.

I live about 25 miles south of the Port of Los Angeles. I have made that drive to San Diego quite a number of times. Accidents do happen, just like anywhere, but there are at least three lanes each way and I have never experienced long delays for accidents.

 

In general that traffic flows really well during non rush hour traffic times. Traffic flows much better to San Diego that to LA.

 

Personally If I could save the kind of money that you refer to I would do it. Since your flight isn't until 2:45 I beleive that your risk of missing your flight is low.

[jasmith52]

LasseKjus:

 

Curt Jerome Wild has a point. By flying into San Diego you increase your risk by a small amount.

 

Regarding his 4 points

 

 

If the last three items happen then many many people on board will have flight issues - not just you. So, although they could possibly happen it wouldn't change the game much compared to flying out of LA. Note that getting to the LA airport also takes some time and can have some of the worst traffic and accidents in all of the LA basin.

 

I live about 25 miles south of the Port of Los Angeles. I have made that drive to San Diego quite a number of times. Accidents do happen, just like anywhere, but there are at least three lanes each way and I have never experienced long delays for accidents.

 

In general that traffic flows really well during non rush hour traffic times. Traffic flows much better to San Diego that to LA.

 

Personally If I could save the kind of money that you refer to I would do it. Since your flight isn't until 2:45 I believe that your risk of missing your flight is low.

[jsygrl]

Another option to look at is Amtrak.

 

Amtrak from San Diego to LA is a 2 hour 40 minute ride and it's $29 one-way. You would then have to get from Union station to your hotel so also take those costs into consideration.

 

Ooops, forgot you have children with you. Children 2-15 would be $14.50 and under 2 is free (though it looks like lap child).

 

This may not work returning though, you may want to rent then.

[yogi2929]

Morning Amtrak is at 9:30a and 12:30p. It's almost 3 hours North (to Union Station), then just under an hour to get to San Pedro or Long Beach. Amtrak is notorious for not being on time. Transportation would need to be arranged from Union Station to the port. They would either pick you up at the taxi stand or in front.

 

If you do decide to fly into San Diego, return the rental car at the Long Beach Airport.

 

Did you check Super Shuttle? I have no idea what the rates would be.

[mjesf]

Out of curiosity I ran the numbers.

 

The difference between airfares is $910, BUT factor in the $200 each way minivan rental and the savings goes down to $510 or about $73/person. Staying an extra day would further erode into your savings.

 

As Curt pointed out you should factor in the fact that the drive to and from San Pedro or Long Beach from SAN is a crapshoot :eek:. Just because it can be done in 1.5 hours or less on a good day :p doesn't mean that on a really bad day it can take twice the amount of time or more :mad:. Did I mention your posse will be screaming, "Are we there yet?" during that time?

 

I'd suggest either one of two tacks. If you must fly into and out of SAN, pad one day each way into the schedule and find fun stuff to do in the LA area (Disneyland maybe?) for the day before and San Diego (Zoo?) the day after; thus investing the saved money into an extension of your vacation. Otherwise, confine your airfare search to LAX or LGB.

[LasseKjus]

Thanks for the responses. We'll definitely fly in the day before (as we always do) and I'm guessing we'll go the day after. I don't mind spending the extra day then we don't have to hurry with such a large party. Even if we're the first off the ship, we still have to get through immigration and get to the car rental place, then pick up the car and drive to SD, return the car, and then get through security. With seven people and bags, I'll just come back the next day. With the extra day, we could go to Disney World or Legoland on that Saturday.

 

We'd be coming in from Milwaukee. We typically drive 1:45 to Chicago for our flights, but for the cost of this flight, we'll just make the drive on the other end of the flight. Nothing is worse than the two hour drive home after a week's vacation. Southwest and Jet Blue are options for us from Chicago as are Ontario, Long Beach, Palm Beach and the other area airports, I just don't see getting any cheaper than $155 with taxes for a cross-country round trip flight between the Chicago/Milwaukee region and anywhere in Southern California.

[jasmith52]

$155 round trip is a screamin' deal.

 

Your plan seems valid to me. Just a few points though

 

1) I wouldn't look at that drive to and from SD as such a chore. Once you get to San Clemente you are right along the coast with truly magnificent views of the Pacific. I have seen whales and other marine life out there.

 

2) Unless you are a train buff, skip the Amtrak thing. It's not all that convenient (at either the port or the SD airport) or cheap for 9 people.

 

3) Palm beach and Disney World are in Florida. I don't think you want to go there.

[LasseKjus]

Good point. I meant Palm Springs and Disneyland. I'm not much of a west coast traveler. Confine most of my trips to the east coast and Caribbean. Looking forward to the Mexican Riviera cruise.

 

When you ran the numbers, msjef, you also didn't include cost of getting from LAX/Long Beach to the pier, so that offsets the car rental a bit. I'm guessing there's no way a supershuttle would go from SD to the port area and if it did, it would be brutally expensive.

 

Strange thing is that it looks cheaper to rent a van for the week than for two one-way trips. I'd still be paying for parking at the port, which looks like it would take away any savings, but the convenience would be there. Still pondering.

[jasmith52]

Just so you know:

 

Parking at the Port of Los Angeles is between $12-15 per day so factor that into your Calculations. Leaving the van at the port would certainly be the most convenient and wouldn't involve shuttling over to get a car each way (and the associated charges).

 

When I cruise out of San Diego I usually rent a car in Orange County and drop it at the San Diego airport. I have had the best 1-way rental rates with AVIS as their drop charges seem to be less. You may want to check them out.

 

When you rent a car, make sure that the mileage you'll do is included in the rental charges. Sometimes they only give you so many (free) miles per day and charge a fair amount for each additional mile. If you had the van for a week though they should give you more than enough miles for everything you want to do. Nonetheless it pays to check.

[LasseKjus]

Update. Just Called Enterprise, got a one-way minivan from SAN to San Pedro for $75 there and $122 back, taxes included. I'm guessing I couldn't get transportation from LAX to the pier for much cheaper so there's probably little reason not to book those flights. I made the drive a few years back halfway up from SD to LA and it's an OK drive. If there isn't too much traffic, my group won't be complaining.

 

Like I said, we usually have to drive on one end or the other. Last cruise, we flew into Miami from Milwaukee going out of Port Everglades. That's not too bad of a drive, but we typically have to fly out of Chicago. We've also flown to Baltimore (at $59 pp round trip from Milwaukee) for a cruise out of Norfolk. That was a 3 1/2 hour drive and it started to get rough at the end, but knowing there's a cruise at the other end of the drive makes it easier.

 

We'll probably come back on Sunday instead of Saturday just to get a day at a theme park in.

[jasmith52]

Do 9 people and their cruise luggage fit in a minivan ?

[LasseKjus]

It's seven people, three of which will be six or younger, two more will be teenagers, so luggage will fit under their feet! We did seven and luggage before in a minivan from Orlando to Port Canaveral two summers ago for a Disney Cruise, and that was four adults, a teen and two under three. It's a tight fit, but can be done. We did seven (four adults and three under four) the following summer from Baltimore to Norfolk for a Bermuda cruise and it was a tighter fit (cause one of the other adults put on some significant weight!) but we managed.

[d-dubya]

Update. Just Called Enterprise, got a one-way minivan from SAN to San Pedro for $75 there and $122 back, taxes included. I'm guessing I couldn't get transportation from LAX to the pier for much cheaper so there's probably little reason not to book those flights. I made the drive a few years back halfway up from SD to LA and it's an OK drive. If there isn't too much traffic, my group won't be complaining.

 

Like I said, we usually have to drive on one end or the other. Last cruise, we flew into Miami from Milwaukee going out of Port Everglades. That's not too bad of a drive, but we typically have to fly out of Chicago. We've also flown to Baltimore (at $59 pp round trip from Milwaukee) for a cruise out of Norfolk. That was a 3 1/2 hour drive and it started to get rough at the end, but knowing there's a cruise at the other end of the drive makes it easier.

 

We'll probably come back on Sunday instead of Saturday just to get a day at a theme park in.

 

Sounds like you have it knocked. One suggestion: Fly into SAN and drive straight to LA/LB for a hotel the day before, and then drive straight to San Diego when you get off, for a hotel there the night after...you could squeeze in Sea World or the Zoo that p.m., if you aren't too tired from the cruise, and you won't have to sweat traffic problems either direction.

[LasseKjus]

d-dubya, that's exactly what we'd do.

 

Thank you all for the help of talking it through.

[wg6530]

Good point. I meant Palm Springs and Disneyland. I'm not much of a west coast traveler. Confine most of my trips to the east coast and Caribbean. Looking forward to the Mexican Riviera cruise.

 

When you ran the numbers, msjef, you also didn't include cost of getting from LAX/Long Beach to the pier, so that offsets the car rental a bit. I'm guessing there's no way a supershuttle would go from SD to the port area and if it did, it would be brutally expensive.

 

Strange thing is that it looks cheaper to rent a van for the week than for two one-way trips. I'd still be paying for parking at the port, which looks like it would take away any savings, but the convenience would be there. Still pondering.

 

Did you hear Southwest Airlines will begin flying out of MKE later this year. It was on the local news tonight but no flight details yet. I foresee some excellent deals out of MKE as Southwest moves into the market. Sure hope so--I like SWA.

 

If you decide to rent a car for the whole week, look into the sleep-park-cruise packages at LB hotels. Hilton and Residence Inn have them. Maybe others too.

[neecee23]

Your plan sounds like a good one! As far as theme parks, Disneyland will probably be the most enjoyable for all in your group. Legoland is pricey, the little kids will love it, but there is not enough there for the older ones to enjoy. Have a great time!

[kenish]

Be sure to look up the California laws about child seats. I think it applies to OP's traveling party.

[LasseKjus]

Having children, we're well versed in child car seat laws.

[Curt Jerome Wild]

Thank you all for the help of talking it through.

Congrats!:D

I think you have a great plan, and am glad to hear that you are taking a day before and after.

With all those "kids" traveling, it's going to be so much less stressful on you.

 

I've been on so many cruises, that all it takes is one of my scenarios to happen and your schedule is screwed.

So - you are set now no matter what!

It's good.

Enjoy Southern California!:cool:

[kenish]

Having children, we're well versed in child car seat laws.

 

Just wanted to be sure. :) Our car seat law is broader and more stringent than many other states and on the road it receives special scrutiny by CHP officers (along with seat belts). OTOH the hands-free cell phone law is widely ignored by drivers and police.

[winddncer]

Thanks for the responses. We'll definitely fly in the day before (as we always do) and I'm guessing we'll go the day after. I don't mind spending the extra day then we don't have to hurry with such a large party. Even if we're the first off the ship, we still have to get through immigration and get to the car rental place, then pick up the car and drive to SD, return the car, and then get through security. With seven people and bags, I'll just come back the next day. With the extra day, we could go to Disney World or Legoland on that Saturday.

 

With the varied ages of your party, I would suggest forgoing LegoLand. It is really geared for the under 10 crowd and their parents. With teens and little ones, Knotts Berry Farm would be a great option. There are Coasters for the big kids and Camp Snoopy for the little ones. And lots of other stuff to appeal to everyone. Don't forget to eat at the Chicken Dinner Restaurant. It is a "must do".

[kenish]

My son was 6 or 7 when Legoland CA opened. He loved it...but as soon as he turned 10 or so, it was "lame".

 

I second the recommendation of Knott's (they are part of the Cedar Fair group of parks). A "hidden gem" is Adventure City a few miles south of Knott's. It's a smallish amusement park (sort of an upscale, permanent couty fair carnival) and many of the rides will be great for the toddlers though a bit sedate for the teens. There's reviews over at Trip Advisor.